Cartoon notes for 'The Cyber Mermaid' cartoon blog

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/janeair - Link to buy The Cyber Mermaid
The Cyber Mermaid cartoon blog originates from 'The Cyber Mermaid' book. The book is a satire on online dating and online life.

http://janeairblogs.blogspot.com/ - My blog where the cartoons are posted.and the cartoon slideshow is at http://www.flickr.com/photos/cybermermaid/show

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1st Cartoon : Kissing Plenty of Frogs

My first attempt at editing a watercolour online. It's a start. There are possibilities. The first cartoon doesn't give too much away - the way I like it - for now.
2nd Cartoon : Casting the net... Abit surreal this one. Probably gives too much away. Still have 2 visuals to add to this so will come back to it. The key could be...the key to open or lock the dating diary...or the 'secret key' at the end of the dating diary...or a key to lock in my cyber-audience ! The clock is to signify that it's 'fun time'. The dancing banana is just a visual echo of the trapped moon - sorry to disappoint, but it doesn't feature in my dating diary.

Next cartoon will be either a visual for the 'Scaly Daily' or a pic of the main character ( although you do get half her face in 'plenty of frogs' - far too much in my opinion ) or just some boring hearts.3rd Cartoon : My Cyber Heart - does exactly what it says on the tin - 'My cyber heart flutters whenever he's online...'4th Cartoon : An Animated Rainbow of Electronic Love Hearts - does exactly what it says on the tin apart from : the rainbow isn't animated ; and the love hearts aren't electronic. Quite like the psychodelic feel to this one - I now see the cartoon blog as a psychodelic journey ( although I hadn't intended it to be ) - coming up and going down - Please come with me !
5th Cartoon : Alice Icons - Pocket watch says 'Fun Time' but this may well change later.6th Cartoon : Cyber Flowers Just some ordinary cyber flowers.
7th Cartoon : Man-Eaters inspired by the Triffids. The term 'man-eaters' works better than 'human-eaters'. I had a surreal idea for the butterflies but it didn't work out for practical reasons.
8th Cartoon : The Scaly Daily This cartoon visual will do for now but I might redo it at a later date. The Scaly Daily is a fictional tabloid website within the dating diary. I have a theory that the gravestone grey of the fish fountains and the banner represent how high doses of celebrity gossip can deaden us to our own lives. Just a theory.
9th Cartoon : Dating Profile Avatar Pic and Profile - click The cartoons are not in the sequence that I had originally created but I didn't know it would take the print on demand company this long to process the book. This cartoon is for the dating profile but it is not the exact - word-for-word dating profile that appears in chapter one of the dating diary manuscript. Still to test the water with it. No proofreaders on board - all on my own with this. I wonder what response the dating profile will get. I am sick of how the tabloids are so obsessed with superficial beauty. Anyway, she has a green face ( due to oil spill of 2010 ) and some wrinkles - shock horror - but at least she is not a botoxed deformity.
10th Cartoon : Welcome to Happy Fishing ! Setting the scene on the cyber stage. 'Happy Fishing' is a fictional dating site that features in the diary.
11th Cartoon : The Cyber Mermaid is online... Coordinated with the publication of The Cyber Mermaid ( the dating diary ). I quite like lobster in this one, adding an extra dollop of surrealism. My dating diary is finally available as an ebook and book.
12th Cartoon : Taking a Bath. Am dead jealous of The Cyber Mermaid's bathtime as my own bathroom has flooded and I can't risk taking a bath. This visual has abit of a surveillance theme as you can 'see' with the two eyes but it's also inspired by the mundane daily twitterings of our celebs. When she first joined twitter she gained 104 followers in just an hour or so but she now only has around 84. Abit sneaky how some people follow you so you then follow them and then dump you afterwards.
I have been thinking lately of what my own relationship is with the cartoon mermaid. It's not a picture of Dorian Gray relationship ( she has wrinkles too ! ) but there is some kind of connection which for now, I can't quite describe. Lately, I am weak in the search engine on my Jane Air page whereas The Cyber Mermaid is growing in strength both in google web and google images.

13 th Cartoon : Loan sharks in cyberspace. The Cyber Mermaid escapes from and hides from the loan sharks that are chasing by hanging out inside the dating chatroom as represented by the fishbowl. It is only made of glass however, and no doubt they will soon find their way inside. Really a cartoon mirroring and mimicking just how commercially rapacious cyberspace has become. With more and more of our everyday lives online, if a company, an agency, a high street bank or a loan shark is after you, then cyberspace can become a very unfriendly place indeed. I did have in mind the unfriendliness and the unrulyness of Wonderland towards Alice in Lewis Carroll's original book. I did think of framing this cartoon inside a set of shark fangs but I don't think we are quite there yet. However, we do have a cyberspace crammed full of commercials and celebrities constantly vying for our eyeballs and the question is, how much worse can it all get ?

14th Cartoon : Valentines Day. This one centres around online dating manuals popping up all the time and everytime. I like the lobster in this one, threatening to cut the electrical cord of the fishbowl.
15th Cartoon : The Cyber Mermaid Attends The Oscars 2011 ( virtually ). This cartoon was created for 'The Fame Issue' of The Scaly Daily but I have decided that she might as well attend The Oscars ( virtually ). Extract for this visual is at
http://theoscars-2011.blogspot.com/
16th Cartoon : The REAL Cyber Mermaid Probably not the definitive cartoon to represent 'The REAL cyber mermaid' but it will do for the moment. She is a virtual character, a shop assistant at the online mermaid store which sells mermaid fashion. THIS CARTOON TO BE REMOVED AND REDRAWN.

17th Cartoon : The Fame and Beauty Issue. As the cyber mermaid is addicted to online celebrity gossip, I thought I might as well give her the celebrity treatment herself, airbrushing, skin lightening, add more hair than is really there, etc, etc. She will eventually get into the 'trout pout' area of cyberspace but it will take some time as it is already stuffed full with celebrities pouting their trout pouts about.

Crocodile claw and crocodile handbag. Just sticking up for crocodiles.

18th Cartoon : The Cyber Mermaid reads 'Unreal People' magazine. Abit dated seeing that she is a 'cyber' mermaid - everything is online.

Will return to posting notes on the cartoons. Next cartoon is a steampunk cartoon and a satire on the media !